I listened to Getting to Yes by William Ury who is probably the most recognized negotiations expert few months ago.
If you never heard about William Ury, short TED talk might be the best way to get to know about his impressive career:
And here are the notes that I wrote down while reading it. Probably they will be of some use for you as well:
1. Always set a goal of negotiation form the very beginning: “You want to sell at the higher price and I want to buy at the lower price. Let’s find the fair price that can both agree upon.”
2. Always try to understand interests behind a position. How did you arrive at that price? Why do you consider it just?
3. Always repeat the position of another side: “Correct me if I’m wrong. Do I understand correctly that you consider this price to be just because…”
4. Always set a principle, external standard to judge the agreement. E.g. fair solution.
5. Separate a person from a problem. “We are very grateful for everything you did for us but it’s very important for us to arrive at the fair solution.”
Business model generation book that I’m currently reading is a brilliant example of how complicated topic can be structured and explained visually so simple that even a kid would understand it.
CONS
It should be noted that it doesn’t go into much deep granularity level, doesn’t give you numbers, formulas or ready-to-use solutions.
PROS
However, it does give you food for thought, important questions to ask and what’s more even more important a great thinking framework that can also be used for brainstorming and collaboration.
Recently I finished reading What Would Google Do by Jeff Jarvis. Judging by title I didn’t really expect lots of insights from the book but it appeared to be truly visionary and smart. It even made me kind of regret choosing Economics&Business major over Computer Science 7 years ago…
WWGD appeared not to be about Google itself but about the way business, economics, relationships and world in whole change as the result of technologies wide spread and simplification. So, in fact the book covers quite wide range of topics. From Google’s PageRank, to Facebook, new media, customized solutions, customer relations, blogging, Twitter, context advertising, search engine optimization, online communities management, government policies and many other.
In Feb. I participated in Russian version of startup weekend – Harvest, it’s an event which gets a couple of hundred people with various background (project management, marketing, venture capital, web design, web development, programming and others) in order for them to be able to work together for 2 days. Why 2 days? Well, one of the reasons is to make participation possible for those who have full-time day work. Another reason is that 2 days is enough to start doing something, to convert dead idea into real action, to form a team and fill yourself with energy and motivation that you will definitely need in the future.
Actually, I just wanted to share a video with you. It does not have any educational value but it’s full of energy and shows the atmosphere of the event very well. Why share? Probably it will get you inspired and you will find startup weekend event in your city. Sometimes small things lead to really big things you know…
“I cannot teach anybody anything, I can only make them think.”
~ Socrates
Why even think of educational online courses?
In my opinion, full freedom implies self-improvement and the ability to learn new things every day. And you know what? I don’t really think that joining the university is absolutely the best way to do it.
I guess I’m not the only one here who has a feeling that education in the traditional meaning of this word is dying in the 21st Century. Sounds like a bold statement, but it’s true. Even now, in 2010 amount of the information available for free is unbelievable. And it’s increasing exponentially. If you still have doubts I recommend you to watch this truly amazing video:
I’m not sure about you, but it definitely made me think a lot. Old traditional universities with big names won’t disappear overnight, of course not. Degree is still the best available indicator of credibility, top universities still have an opportunity to provide their students with the wide range of various subjects and classes. The point is if you worry about practical knowledge more than about degree and credits there are some alternatives available for you. Probably, you just don’t have that much time to spend on educating yourself in a traditional way or probably you don’t want to settle down in one place for a few years?
What is important for the entrepreneur who travels around the world? To be totally mobile. And part of being mobile is to have all your information, both business and personal available with you at the any part of the world. Preferably, without carrying anything with you. Well, Evernote lets you get precisely that.
This is the online service which allows you to store any images and texts (even Microsoft Office documents in the paid version) that you want to use as a reference in future. You can save the data right from the browser by selecting pieces of information and pressing just one button or using the shortcut or you can type something manually. All the notes can be viewed and updated if it’s needed either with the Evernote application or online web-site.
But the most important thing about online storage services like this is that they lower your level of worry. When you know will not lose any information because it’s stored on the server and accessible 24/7 from any place in the world that has the internet.
What makes Evernote even better is that it has a very powerful search engine built-in. It means that even if you upload a picture with text, it will be automatically recognized and transformed to the text format. To make the long story short, this is a priceless tool for me. And if you still don’t have an account I recommend you to get one right now.
So what are the useful lifehacks that can help you get the most of Evernote?
Let us never negotiate out of fear. But, let us never fear to negotiate.
~John F. Kennedy, 35th President of the United States
Some people think that negotiation can only be used by diplomats or salespeople. But in reality we all negotiate a lot and can often easily get a better deal if we ask for extra.
It can be a negotiation on your bank loan terms or negotiation with your boss about getting flexible working schedule which you need to start your own online business.
All the decisions are made by people. And sometimes you can pursue people to make the decision which is more favourable for you. No matter in which sphere: work, business or your personal life.
So, what are the best methods that professional negotiators have developed, used and shaped throughout the years?
As usual, first you need to understand the main principle and then get into the details (this is where Devil is, remember?). So, the main principle is to
Avoid the ego fight by keeping discussion on the objective non-personal level and present your position in a way that allows the other side to get some value and accept it without loosing a face.
How can it be done? Let’s look at the best of the best methods, secrets and tricks:
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